Sony promises more NEX lenses in updated E-mount lens roadmap

Sony has said it will have 15 lenses ready for the NEX system by the end of 2013. It made the annoucement of an expanded E-mount roadmap at the start of the CP+ trade show in Yokohama, Japan. The roadmap includes a variety of zooms and prime lenses, including a high-end standard zoom with Sony's premium 'G' branding. There will also be a pancake prime and a mid-telephoto prime lens some time during 2013.

The roadmap is understandably hazy about exactly when each lens will arrive but with the huge biennial Photokina trade show coming later in 2012, it seems reasonable to assume some will arrive then.

Comments

it's a pity.. sony have great camera bodies (5n, 7) but what a shame on the lens lineup. the only lenses worth buying are the 24mm /1.8 zeiss and the 50mm /1.8... a 16-50 /2.8, 30 /1.4 , 85 or 135 /2.0 would be perfect

Sony boys and girls: the NEX 7 is nice. Yes, really.BUT... lenses should be black. They shouldn't look like perfume bottles.The NEX 7 is black. The cheap 18-55 is black. Black is beautiful. Give us black lenses.

I am just an amateur who understands exposure and I am learning composition and lighting to go with the technical stuff I've learned about photography. I also prefer silver lenses to go with my silver 5N. If silver is perfume bottles then I look goofy to you, but I like the look, so there's that. On the other hand, I don't care how I look and often put an ugly black Canon FDn 50/1.4 lens on my silver 5N. No big deal to me . . . it's the results I am after; not looking good taking the shots.

What I'd like to get it from Sony, for my "Sony FS-100 Movie Camera" :) .. is wide angle lens WITH IMAGE STABILIZATION!! - to use it when I shoot on STEADICAM !! Unfortunately no one, who produce the lenses mostly do it for PHOTOGRAPHY.. and they don't care about VIDEO... so there is NO wide angle lenses with IS on the market... but.. if we have something like 15mm or 20mm IS lenses - we can get MUCH MORE STABLE VIDEO from STEADICAM shooting!! I hope Sony will hear me :)

The 16-50 Alpha mount is suitable for APS-C sensors only whereas the 24/70 Zeiss can cover full frame and APS-C.

The 16-50 suffers from distortion on cameras other than the a65 and a77. The zeiss 24-70 is a bit big and heavy (it only really feels at home on my a900). If it were a choice between the two for your NEX 7 I would go with the 16-50. However, if I'm honest, and you do want a zoom, I would simply get the 18-200 e-mount from sony. Its about the same size once you've factored in the adaptor and it really is a very nice lens of its type. You can tell from the list price!

The best two native e-mount lenses in my opinion are the Zeiss 24 and the 18-200. The 50mm OSS isn't bad either.

I really hope that Sony will make a high quality zoom, in the range of the kit lens. I would be willing to pay the price for a top lens. For me, a NEX-7, with a 16-55mm quality lens that is about the size of the present kit lens, would be the ideal walk around setup for my needs.

I think its a pity that there are no new Zeiss lenses on the roadmap. The 24mm is a triumph (there are a few pictures in my gallery if anybody is interested). I really hope the large aperture standard is of a decent quality (the 50mm is very good for the price). I'm not really sure what the wide angle zoom brings if it isn't G or Zeiss.

I'm in two minds about OSS as it does contribute to the size of lenses and is practically useless below about 35mm (please note that sensor shift stabilisation does show a benefit at shorter focal lengths).

Having any stabilization when shooting in low light situations such as f1.4, 1/15, ISO3200 is far from useless. In fact the only reason why I'm not interested in the CZ 24/1.8 is because it has no OSS.

not sure Sony is able to make any good lenses. using of a brand of someone else who hasn't made any good lenses for dozens of years since lost market to Japanese makers in 1960-1970s is a proof that the quality of these lenses are low.

You've obviously never used a Zeiss lens. And i guess you missed the part where the Sony 70-400/4-5.6 G was rated best in class of any system.

Zeiss is a world famous lens maker. They make glass for Canon & Nikon too... just an FYI. They also make optics for medical and industrial applications, and are used almost exclusively for neurosurgery microscopes. You better hope that if you need brain surgery, those low quality zeiss lenses are there to help your doctor fix you up. :)

hehe, nice you have a body with ASP-C which could fit in your back pocket... sorry you need a lens of 20cm in lenght to get some decent shots, which will be around 1kg and $3000 :) I feel sorry for all you folks who bought into NEX assuming it would be better than other mirrorless systems because "It has an APS-C sensor in it!!!!" another 2 years before you can use the body without the option "shoot without less" enabled..

Regarding length - Do you even know how long 20cm is? Kit lens is 6 cm long. The telephoto E mount lens (55-210) is still only around 10cm long. Even if I put a higher quality A mount lens on it (like the Zeiss 16-80 or 24-70) I'm only adding to the lens an extra 2.6cm for the adaptor - total length around 10-13cm.

Regarding weight - The weight of the NEX 5N + Kit lens is less than 500g, Nex 7 slightly above 500g. With the telephoto E mount lens (55-210) still way under 1kg.

Regarding price - I paid $599 for my Nex-5N kit. Replacing kit lens with higher quality lenses will be expensive regardless what system you choose.

Regarding image quality - Sorry to break it to you but APS-C sensors (like the Nex 5N 16MP) will beat any of the 4/3 mirrorless at higher ISO's

Oh and if you require spending $3000 to get 'decent' shots then I feel sorry for you. :)

The real value in the nex is as a video camera. Unfortunately the only stabalized lens (for video) is the 18-200, which is slow as mud. Why couldnt they have used video stabalization in the 50mm f 1.4? This is totally sucky.

The problem with roadmap is we can't tell what lenses (aside from pro quality Zeiss/G) will be for soccer moms (18-55, 55-210, 16?) vs. enthusiasts (50 f1.8, 18-200?).

I own a 5 and when I can take my time (landscape, macro) I've got more than enough great old glass from 24mm to 300mm (and a fair 500 f8 reflex). Plenty of physically small fast primes out there - and only < 20mm are very expensive.

I've got a 7 on order and what I need are lenses for shooting quickly - fast, stabilized & autofocus. Image quality trumps lens size, period - need sharp enough corners, but I don't need Zeiss-perfect (50 f 1.8 is good). I don't get stabilization with Alpha, so rules out Alpha lenses.

How many lenses do you need anyway? Man I hate changing lenses and always have my 24mm Zeiss attached. But I'd definitely take a high quality zoom to replace the kit zoom. Other than that most of what you need is already out there, if not in E-mount, its in A mount via the LA-EA1 (or EA2) adaptors. (or other brands via other adaptors)

Really with adaptors there's a lot of choice out there already I don't know what people are complaining about.

It's not just focal length, it's image quality and aperture, too. The choice of lens options is still lacking in mirrorless systems. Most lenses are slow, many are mediocre or bad in IQ (16mm f/2.8), and at the same time more expensive than their SLR equivalents.

Adaptability of Alpha mount lenses is nice, but you could get a complete Alpha body for the price of the SLT adapter...

There's no mirrorless system that could replace my SLR gear yet, one body and five lenses (22-44, 28-300, 50, 100 macro, 100-400mm equiv., all stablized, plus decent 1,4x and 2x converters for the 100-400), which is what I would require it to before I start buing into one.

On the other hand, I'm already having lots of fun with a NEX-3 and a couple of old manual focus lenses (Minolta MC/MD 24/2.8, 35/1.8, 50/1.4, 85/2) , the latest being a 1961 soviet Russian "Jupiter-8" 50mm f/2 (Leica Thread Mount) lens. But I won't be investing into more NEX gear until I see that it could replace my SLR stuff, too.

Yes you could buy an A series body but you'd be stuck with a bulky camera body + large lens without the ability to reduce its size. At least with the NEX system you can remove the adaptor and switch to an E mount lens to make it far lighter and compact than a dslr. That to me is a huge plus.

And I agree, it kind of sucks we have to wait so long for lens offerings in E mount.

Wow. I understand everyone's dissapointment (I guess) in the timeframes, but according to this roadmap, there will be 7 prime lenses in Sony's native emount, plus at least two from Sigma available within the next 24 months, as well as 8 zooms of various lengths and speeds. Also another from Tamron. Not to mention you can adapt all of the A-mount lenses with autofocus, etc, and practically any lens on the planet with third party adaptors.

m43 has been around much longer, and didn't launch with dozens of lens options, other than the older Olympus lenses.

If the system isn't for you I understand, but there aren't that many scenarios you can't accomplish with the NEX system. To each their own.

NEX cameras accept more available lenses than most (any?) other cameras. It seems like their mistake was putting the image stabilization in the lens instead of the camera; reducing the value of other lenses and increasing the cost of their own.

With the lens diameter greater than the height of the camera, and the camera too small for a hot shoe, they could afford the space in the camera, and then all the lenses would be smaller, cheaper, easier to design and build, plus no one would worry about a shortage of lenses.

This roadmap only makes me see Pentax as the obvious choice. THose lenses are available NOW, along with relatively fast, fixed f2.8 zooms. Why do the zooms on mirrorless have to be so slow? Now Olympus and Panasonic have somehow made people drool over slow zoons.

TOO late... Nex system has been around a WHILE, and they are promising finally some lenses almost 2 years from now, really ? That is like 4 years from when nex was first introduced. Jeez...not really sorry i sold my 5n and m43 here i come.

Based on the Zeiss 24mm f/1.8, and thinking that more Zeiss lenses would be added, I had planned to buy two NEX 7n cameras. This "roadmap" has caused me to re-think my plans. No need to buy into a camera system with a lot of Kit Zooms. Meh!

It looks as though the NEX system can't provide a fast lens unless it is also rather big. If the E50mm f/1.8 sample is any indication, a 35mm or wider lens with f/1.8 would be very big. Both the 200mm f/6.3 lenses are too slow for sports at the long end, except maybe with the ISO juiced up.

>(Physically) bigger sensors = (physically) bigger lenses.is just not true, M mount lenses are small, and cover full frame, it's just more difficult to get good corners on RF wide angle lenses, but that will change with every generation of sensor.The AF motors & Iris system will not add to the depth, just the diameter.<Bigger apertures = bigger lenses.It's true of all lenses, even m4/3's

I own a Panasonic LX3 and was amazed when Sony introduced the NEX with an APS size imager in a body about the same size as my LX3. I had hoped that Sony would have a lens about the same physical size as the 24-60 mm f2 on my LX3, but evidently not. Maybe Sony will surprise me. Until then, I sit on the sidelines.

Sorry to disillusio you! A 24-60mm F2.0 equivalent lens for a APS size sensor would weight more than 1.000g, cost more than 2.000$ and would be 3 times the size of your camera. To have an idea: Llook at the 14-35mm F2.0 (equivalen 28-70mm) of Olympus. Its only for the 4/3 sensor that is smaller than APS. There are physical laws you can't ignore. Sorry again.

I've also been sitting on the sidelines but I doubt they will ever come up with something like Panasonic's X series 14-42mm.The most you can hope for in a pancake zoom for APS-C is something like the Samsung 30-50mm kit zoom for the NX100. Limited range, no image stabilization.

Nice camera line up - crap lens line up. Whats the point of having slim cameras and 24 Mp if the whole package delivers either crap sharpness? I hope the 2013 snap pancake can deliver the sharpness the other pancake can't. That would make one interessting lens for me. Though, whats the point of having a system camera if only one lens sits on there?

Exactly. The first thing that came to my mind when I read 'end of 2013' was 'they must be sh...in'Ghee, as much as I like my NEX5 the 18-55 leaves a lot to be desired, not that it's any worse than its brethren, it outperformed my Nikon D300/18-55 combo by some margin and made me sell my Nikon gear but hey, they can't be serious on this one.Where are Tamron, Sigma & Co. when you NEED them once in a blue moon ?Many of has have seen what the NEX is capable of, my brother has a Tamron 17-50/2.8 (Nikon Adapter) on his NEX-5 and it makes the NEX sing but the adapter makes it pretty bulky and of course - no AF/VR.Wake up Sony / Tamron / Sigma / Cosina & Co. WAKE UP !

For me, the big turnoff to the Sony NEX is that their lens line is geared towards soccer moms. (and other people upgrading from a compact, who don't know what the word aperture means).

Slow kit zooms dominate their lens line up. Maybe, 2 1/2 years after the camera was released, they will offer a fast normal prime. Maybe.

Fuji, on the other hand, is releasing their camera with 3 fast primes. According ot their lens roadmap, in total, 9 lenses by the end of 2013, 6 primes lenses. The zooms they will offer are all constant aperture.

Yeah, but when the NEX-7 showed up, I (D300 shooter with tons of lenses) got interested =) Glad it has a real hot shoe. Add Steadyshot with Active Mode to its video mode, drop its shot-to-shot time down to 0.2 seconds, and I will seriously consider the NEX line. I just hope it feels good when I mount a giant flash and lens onto it.

What's with making wide angle lenses mostly available as zooms? I would much rather have a compact 10 or 12 mm f2.8 at a lower price than a big 10-20 mm (or thereabouts) F3.5-4.5. It's not just Sony. Everyone is doing it.

Translation of Japanese word. The chart above is the third iteration I have seen, the first was in Japanese, the second Japanese with English translations and this one with just English. I think the original Japanese word translated to snap, and it has been decided that refers to a pancake lens.

@ottonis, indeed it is a very good "super-zoom", far beyond the mostly worse SLR pendants. After long time I received my NEX7 now, and for the time being I use it with the new Tamron 18-200 (have chosen the Tamron due to much smaller size compared to the Sony). Working around the few wakenesses of such "super-zooms" the first few dozen results are absolutely nice.

In my opinion there is little need of another zoom for the mass market. As highend the Zeiss was a very nice idea, but it should have been a 35/1,4 rather then the limiting 24/1,8 as it is. The 50/1,8 is ok, but already to "long" for APSC as prime.

For the time being I only miss a macro aside the questionable short 30mm one.

For sure my view is very subjectively as of using a900/a77 with high end lenses for photo project. The NEX7 is "just" my everyday-everytime-with-me and holiday camera.

wouldn't put my hopes too high...standard zoom might just mean the black kit lens that comes with the NEX-7.high magnification zoom could either mean a SEL18-200 revision or a 70-300mm 4-5.6 zoom of some sortwide angle zoom sounds interesting...maybe a 12-24mm F4-5.6?large aperture standard...I'll place my bet on a 35mm 1.8 (would like a 30mm but I doubt they repeat the same FL again)

keep in mind that the specs of the E-mount lenses are going to be worse, or at most equal to A-mount lenses. they want to be less ambitious in order to reduce the lens sizes.

Besides that many people here seemingly doesn't understand serious business.Sony has an existing line up of standard and some enthusiast lenses which cover every basic need.Now. R&D'ing a lens, preparing the factory for production is a very expensive procedure, and they have to internally show a revenue model to the stakeholders. Reason for delaying the "special" lenses is that the profit of the body and standard lens business needs to cover the costs of designing new lenses which may probably not be sold in sufficient amounts in order to redeem themselves.

One other thing - comparing m43 and APS-C is more like comparing apples and pears...

I note that Sony does not provide the caps of the lens when you buy the kit lens + body. I have two bodies and I have to change from one body to another lens. From here you can see that Sony has no real culture of photography ...

Yomama just put a the tiny Voigtländer CV 15 15/4.5 Aspherical Super-Wide Heliar on a Nex 5n and you see that you logic is wrong.They do have to work on their Nex 7 sensor color filter array and AA filter.

To be honest, The short flange focal distance of the nex is what makes it so difficult for them to produce decent fixed primes that are not bigger/longer then it needs . It's pure physics, small body (with short FD)=bigger lenses (NEX), normal body (with normal FD)=normal lenses (Fuji & Samsung), and big body (with long FD)=small lenses (Pentax).

The market is longing for faster pancake lenses with high IQ..... Sony will have a hard time doing so. M43 seems to be hitting the sweet spot with the size of the body and collection of lenses. I also think Pentax K-01 will do a lot better than we think.

Agree. Sony seems to have screwed up big time with their tiny NEX bodies and short flange distance but using APS-C sensor sensors in their cameras. There may indeed be a problem there causing Sony's slow lens release and average quality lenses. What a pity if true, that all their fantastic sensors now and in future should be compromised by the quality or the balance/size/price issues in lenses. M43 got it spot on in terms of size and balance and image quality for a small camera. Even the crop factor of 2 is so convenient to use. Especially with sensors getting better all the time, their smaller sensor size will not be a significant in another camera generation. If NEX cameras can only be used mainly for big and heavy, expensive name brand lenses or exotic old manual focus lenses, it would be such a waste of its great sensor and viewfinder and other technology. Lucky they still have the Alpha mount.

Short flange focal distance is not a problem at all, since FFD is the distance between the flange and the sensor (not the rear lens!). You just stick the lens deeper behind the flange. You can easily design symmetric lenses in 18-30 mm range in pancake format.

Just like the E-mount CZ 24mm 1.8, the new Cosina-Voiglander 17.5mm F0.95 lens for micro Four Thirds is a long barreled lens - which just confirms that symmetric short focal wide angle lens designs don't work all that well on mirrorless digital cameras.

We are not going to see fast E-mount pancake w/a lenses with high IQ but maybe some slow pancakes with ho-hum IQ.

Pentax can make shorter barreled lenses because they are using the flange focal distance of a mount originally designed for 35mm SLRs.

PS Yomama - I can't figure out how Sony's 24mm equates to a 66mm, Pentax's 40mm equates to 15mm and the 70mm Ltd equates to 26mm. You're the one who said "do the math".

If you consider a complete camera's system with wide-angle and super-tele (for birdwatching) can you decide wich Flange Focal Distance versus Sensor's Diagonal is better in order to have a light and however good quality system?On my advise Nikon 1 system can be, because it has a big sensor (versus 1/2.3" sensor or 2/3" sensor) with a 15.86 mm Diagonal and a big Flange Focal Distance (17 mm).What do you think?

Hey CFlynn, those are their actual physical length taken from their spec sheet, and that's all. All I was trying to demonstrate is the size of the lenses in the NEX line is not even close to being portable. Try to put both 24mm and 50mm in your jacket pocket without looking like it's been taken out of a washing machine. pentax's 21+40+70 is equal to a sony's 24mm!! The small camera systems are ideal for street snapping with primes....Sony is unable to deliver.

Ok, CFynn, even if pancake design is not totally symmetric (see e.g. http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/olympus_25_2p8_o20/) you can still move the rear lens further away from the sensor if required, even if the flange focal distance is short. It doesn't matter if it is symmetric or not.

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